Books to read before they hit the big screen in 2015

Personally, I believe the hallmark of a really great book is when a reader is able to cast and direct the story within their own mind. Whether visualising the locations or the characters, an enticing read is one that can transform a collection of words, into those that evoke an imagined visual experience.

While comparing the differences between a book and its cinematic adaptation can often lead to heart-wrenching disappointment, there are some occasions when it has actually succeeded, and when it does, the result is spectacular.

The accomplishment of reading a novel before seeing it in the cinema also fulfills me with a slight air of smugness and superiority, in comparison to other people who clearly haven’t bothered.

To share this feeling with you all, I have narrowed down a list of eight essential books to read before you see their movie adaptations are released now/in the coming months. Any one of them could possibly be the next people claim that “the movie was every bit as good as the book”.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Chances are you will already know what to expect before going to see this movie. Starring Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, the characters erotic exploits are set for release on the big screen just in time for Valentine’s Day.

American Sniper by Chris Kyle
The autobiography of SEAL Chief Chris Kyle tells a fascinating and brutal account of his rise through the ranks, that has solidified his status as the most lethal sniper in American military history. The upcoming adaptation comes from Clint Eastwood and stars Bradley Cooper in the lead role.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova
We follow the story of a successful Harvard professor, who receives a tragic diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. As she becomes increasingly disorientated and forgetful, Alice struggles to navigate these moments of confusion and slowly learns how to make the most of her time while she can. Alice is played by the uncompromising Julianne Moore, nominated for an Oscar for her brilliant work in this leading role.

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
The story follows an unconventional private eye and the bizarre situation he finds himself steeped in following his ex-girlfriend’s plea to help her kidnap a billionaire land developer, whom she just so happens to be in love with. Set in the psychedelic sixties, the big screen adaptation features a stellar line-up; led by Joaquin Phoenix, who is supported by Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro and Owen Wilson.

In the heart of the sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
Based on one of the most dramatic maritime disasters in history, the novel tells the true story of the sinking of the Whaleship Essex that was attacked by a sperm whale in 1820, and what also became of the ships survivors. The movie features Aussie Chris Hemsworth in the lead role and by the looks of the trailer, audiences can look forward to one epic adventure.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
From the author of Gone Girl, one of 2014’s most buzzed about films, comes another psychological thriller with a twist, and this time it's about a woman struggling to recover from the murder of her family and contend with the secret society determined to revisit the crime to investigate what really happened. The movie adaption has assembled Hollywood heavyweights like Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christina Hendricks and Nicholas Hoult.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
On a similar wave length to The Hunger Games series, Insurgent is the second book of the thrilling ‘Divergent’ trilogy, which follows Tris Prior and her unshakable bravery in attempting to led a revolution against an entire government body to restore peace.

Paper Towns by John Green
From the author that brought us the tearjerker of the century - ‘Fault in Our Stars’, comes the classic tale of Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl takes boy on a revenge fuelled midnight adventure, only to mysteriously disappear afterward. You know, that old tale? This unconventional love story is equally quirky, humourous and charming.


- our thanks to Sophie Buchan for the fantastic guest post!

Sex in the City

Fifty Shades of Grey. Erotica. Porn. Mummy Porn. Bondage. Slash fiction.

People are into sex.

Shock. Horror. I know.

For something that is such a natural part of who we are we certainly seem to get awfully upset about it.   Someone writes a book with a few sex scenes in it and suddenly everyone has something to say and most of it not very good.

It always strikes me as just a little bit odd that we get so riled about two girls kissing, two guys kissing, a little bondage and so on and yet descriptions of someone attacking another, maiming them, hurting them, breaking a few bones or worse and we can't wait to turn another page let alone complain about it.

Violence it seems is tolerated.  Even acceptable.

Surprisingly as it might be to some but 'sexy' books have been around for quite a while.  Lady Chatterley's Lover, Story of O - sex in books in not something new and  the demand for erotic fiction has never been so hot as it has in the last year.  Which just goes to show that porn, erotic fiction, call it what you will - people want to read books that appeal to them on a sexual and personal level.

So if you're looking for something just a little bit steamy, to warm those cold winter nights check out some of the titles below.

Cowboys down / Barbara Elsborg.

"Jasper hopes a getaway to a Wyoming dude ranch help him overcome a deep-seated phobia about horseback riding. He hadn’t counted on an attraction to the dude ranch owner’s son, a man with sun-tousled hair, eyes bluer than Wyoming skies. The moment Calum lays eyes on the wide-eyed Brit, he’s lost."

Under her thumb : erotic stories of female domination / edited by D. L. King

"Under Her Thumb will whet your appetite for all things femdom. These fierce tops know how to dominate their men—and the occasional woman. This strong and sexy collection has everything you want and more."
 
Being Me / Lisa Renee Jones.

"Fascinated by the dark fantasies in the journals sheѫs discovered, and the two men who have now found a place in her life, Sara McMillan finds herself torn between her new life and her past."

Lover at last / J.R. Ward.

"Qhuinn is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, he has finally found an identity as one of the most brutal fighters in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. His heart is  given to another.... Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it's about time: The male has found his perfect match in a Chosen female."

Desired / Anne Rainey.

"What she wants. What she craves. What she needs.  As these three stories show temptation never takes a holiday."

I kissed a girl : an anthology of sexy short stories / edited by Regina Perry.

 "Everyone's heard the Katy Perry song but have you ever been tempted...? An anthology of hot erotic short stories featuring women drawn to experiment with their own sex. This diverse collection travels the globe proving that women from every walk of life and culture are curious and eager to explore their full sexuality...with each other."
 
Dark wolf / Kate Douglas.

"Lily Cheval chooses to live alone.  Then she meets Sebastian Xenakis and the connection between them is intense and immediate. The son of a charismatic cult leader, Sebastian is a mysteriously sensual man who uses magic to shift into wolf form. He and Lily come together in a moment of supreme ecstasy, succumbing to a primal passion that leaves Lily shaken but utterly alive. Is Sebastian her lifetime mate... or her worst enemy."

Fanfic Or Not To Fanfic

"Fan fiction can be defined as any piece of writing inspired by the original work of another."

I am a fan fiction fan.  I"m also a fan fiction writer.

And yes I can hear the cries of shock, horror and outage from here.  Because admitting that you like fan fiction (much less saying that you write it)  is a bit like admitting that you like porn (which some...okay a lot... of fan fiction is).

Fan fiction never has an easy time.  Those that hate it see it at best as lazy writing and at worst as plagiarism, stealing and akin to selling your soul to the devil.  And don't even mention Fifty Shades of Grey.

And yet despite all this I love fan fiction with a passion... and I'm not the only one. FanFiction.Net a website devoted to fan fiction works has more than 2 million users.

2 million.

That in itself should tell you the popularity of fan fiction.  Of course just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean that it's a) good or b) legal.

From my own personal perspective fan fiction is just as legitimate and worth while as any other creative endeavour.

Is is lazy writing? Well yes there is a lot of bad fan fiction but there is also some really great fan fiction.  You just have to dig a little deeper for it.  But trust me it's there. 

Plagiarism and stealing? Perhaps. Though most (about 99.9 %) make no money from what they create and have no desire to do so.  They do it for love of a show/book/movie, to share their love with others, as a way of improving their own writing skill and a great many other reasons.  People with a love of art or music copy and adapt famous works all the time and no-one cries out.  So why is writing any different?

Of course fan fiction fans don't always help themselves.  Some in the fan fiction community can be pretty brutal in their defence.  It's enough to make a fangirl like me hang her head in shame at the antics of others.  Luckily there are plenty of others that make up for this and help make fan fiction a warm and entertaining community where you can share your love of whatever it is that makes you *flail*.

And at the end of the day that's what fan fiction is all about.

It's about exploring possibilities that the original author never thought of.  To celebrate a TV show/movie/book/character that another created in a way that is original to you and to share that love with others.  And that is a pretty great thing.

By the way check out Auckland Libraries latest events.  There's a discussion about Fifty Shades of Grey on next Thursday. http://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/EN/Events/Events/Pages/darknight.aspx

You all deserve to die

Not YOU, my faithful reader(s). I'm talking about the people in the publishing world who really, really annoy me. The ones whom, if I were ever so slightly more psychopathological than I am, I would wish to die in creatively horrible ways. Like being sandwiched in a very large slush pile that's due for the shredder...

Here's my list. What really gets your goat?

#1 - Books starring Jane Austen, remakes of Jane Austen, retellings of Jane Austen

Jane Austen has been a vampire. She has been turned into an erotic kinkfest. Her life and works have been pawed over, warped, twisted, worn threadbare, turned into every flavour of pulp. Zombies and sea monsters have been added to them. They've been placed in a modern setting minus all the best descriptions and language of their creator. The wonderful characters who leapt off the page have been flattened into stupid, cardboard, lifeless versions of themselves in absolutely pointless "modernisations". (Oo, what if we did Persuasion, but in a school? And an office! And in space...)

Keira Knightley has overbitten her way through Elizabeth Bennet. Miniseries have been written in which someone else gets Mr Darcy. For Mansfield Park's sake, they have BROKEN up the MOST ROMANTIC COUPLE in ENGLISH LITERATURE! I am saddened to report that even "decent" authors are getting on the bandwagon. Now that P.D. James and Colleen McCullough have had their turn, they're putting out six new retellings of the novels by the likes of Joanna Trollope and Val McDermid.
Can't you see the woman's exhausted?

No more.


#2 - Twilight readalikes

If I have to give a list of books similar to this series, you'll be reading all day. Ingredients include: paranormal love triangle (involves anything from werewolves to vampires to sexy giant squid - I actually came across a gryphon the other day. Still don't get the humanoid dragon thing, and falling in love with something that's half bird, half lion is just agin' nature.)

Second ingredient: boy who seems to hate the girl, but really burns for her despite her possessing no apparent personality at all.

Third ingredient: a girl who's new to town, who doesn't have any real friends except the one totally hot guy who's keeping a secret...

Sounds familiar? Oh, it's only about 300 recent books...(The Gathering Dark is one.)

Please don't make me buy any more. I'm begging you.


#3 - Titles that are a play on the character's name

Things like Grace Under Fire or Honour Among Thieves or Saving Faith or Hope Rises or April Showers...Maybe not April Showers, it sounds like a certain kind of movie. (Actually I just checked, there is one. But it's not what you think.)

You know what I mean, anyway - books where the main character is actually called Grace, or Faith, or Hope, or Victory, or whatever. Vomitorious.




#4 - Celebrity children's books

Some celebrities can write, apparently. I'm told the Hank Zipzer books by the Fonz aren't too bad, and nor are Jamie-Lee Curtis's. On the other hand - there are Madonna and Jordan, aka Katie Price. At least Jordan doesn't actually write hers. Hilary Duff did write Elixir, starring a young woman struggling with fame, and I mean this nicely, Hilary, but please go back to reading other people's lines. Even Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin and Weird Al Yankovic are guilty of some crimes against literature. Funny people, but not good writers. Fifty Cent has written a book. And has anyone read Modelland by Tyra Banks?

Here's the blurb: "Awkward fifteen-year-old Tookie De La Creme is invited to join the most exclusive modeling school in the world, where she must survive the beastly Catwalk Corridor and the terrifying Thigh-High Boot Camp in order to uncover Modelland's sinister secrets."

I'm putting on my fierce face.

Look out - coming up next, Monica Seles' new series about - yep, a tennis academy. Foul.

#5 - Titles that riff on other titles (that riff on OTHER titles)

We've had Fifty Sheds of Grey, Fifty Bales of Hay, Fifty Shades of Play, Fifty Shades of Dorian Gray, Fifty Shades of Feminism, and my personal favourite, Fifty Shades of Chicken.  

Give it a bone, will you? This turkey is well and truly cooked.